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The words of Nehemiah son of Hakaliah: In the month of Kislev in the twentieth year, while I was in the citadel of Susa, Hanani, one of my brothers, came from Judah with some other men, and I questioned them about the Jewish remnant that had survived the exile, and also about Jerusalem. (Nehemiah 1:1-2)

Many churches across North America are slowly discovering that the number of those who are returning to some sort of active connection to the church community are lower, sometimes significantly lower, than the number of those who left the church buildings in \u201cexile\u201d at the beginning of this pandemic.

This pandemic has taken a toll on us.

It has isolated us into loneliness, it has changed our habits and behaviors, it has increased our anxieties. Even still, the pandemic threatens the routines and work and studies of our lives with impending chaos. As a second wave begins to swell, we live again under the more present threat of restrictions clamping down.

Whatever that may mean for your job, your business, your or your child\u2019s school, and your interactions with family and friends, one thing is for certain: it hasn\u2019t been easy. And it doesn\u2019t look to let up any time soon.

It\u2019s no different in our spiritual lives. Think of it: when was the last time we \u201ccommuned\u201d during communion? That is, joined together, in person, tangibly with the whole community of others to partake in the same place and at the same time in a small meal that represents to our eyes, ears, tongue, nose, and fingers the presence of our reconciling Lord among us. We haven\u2019t. Because we remain scattered. And scattered, many have lost the tangible things that kept them rooted in the faith. Not only communion, but also daily rhythms of faithfulness, the volunteer roles, the weekly community connections that aided their walk with God. And so, many have simply moved on to the pressing anxieties of the day. Many exiles may never return.

But some will. God always keeps a remnant for Himself. If you\u2019re listening to this or reading it right now, you\u2019re likely a part of that remnant.

It was that small, unimpressive and insignificant remnant\u2014the survivors of the exile\u2014that Nehemiah asks his brother about. That, and the tangible place where they remained: the city of Jerusalem. The people and the place. Both in relative ruins. But, both, by the grace of God, still there. Both still seen, known, and loved by God. The people, and the tangible place where they dwelt and worshiped\u2014where they lived, studied, and worked.

As we continue to rebuild our Christian lives and worship during this COVID-tide in tangibly embodied places and habits that may only be shades of the splendor we once knew, we\u2019ll continue to take the remnant from the exile as our companions. Remembering and discovering again with them, that God is always at his work. In us, through us, and in the places where we dwell.

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